Contest adds to cheese dip legend

It’s fabled that the world’s first cheese dip recipe was handed down from a Mayan maize deity to a luchador, who cooked it over the heart of Christ, according to a competitor at Saturday’s World Cheese Dip Championship.

This origin story is “probably just a legend,” joked a masked member of the ConcheeZtadors, one of the groups in the amateur category.

“But one taste of this dip, you might believe it,” he said under an awning of cartoon skeletons that grinned toothy smiles at passers-by.

All the man could reveal about their cheese dip is that they “tickle and kiss” the chilies with “smoke and fire.”

The ConcheeZtadors kept their recipe, and their identities, a secret at Saturday’s competition, held in a parking lot near Sturgis Hall at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

A dozen professional and amateur adversaries warmed vats of cheese on a cold day, hoping to claim top prize from both a panel of judges and cheese dip aficionados who attended the event.

It’s the seventh year of the world championship, which came about after a local filmmaker released a documentary in 2009 on the history of the viscous, gooey appetizer.

Nick Rogers traced cheese dip back to central Arkansas circa 1935. The dish was invented by Blackie Donnely, the documentary says, who opened the first of the Mexico Chiquito restaurants with his wife that year.

Like with any bold claim to cheese fame, a dairy dispute ensued.

Arkansas’ neighbor, Texas, alleged itself as the rightful birthplace. And some restaurateurs argue that cheese dip is the same thing as chile con queso, a Mexican fare.

Creamy controversy aside, Rogers and local event planners established the competition in 2010.

Proceeds go to Harmony Health Clinic, a nonprofit group that provides free medical and dental care to the uninsured and under-insured.

Competitor Toby Brewer’s cheese dip mixed liquefied sharp cheddar and gouda with crawfish, crab and shrimp. When it hits your tongue, “you think Louisiana,” he said.

For 30 days straight, he tinkered with the flavor balance.

Across the crowded parking lot, Julie Brearley doled out cups of her “That’s What Cheese Said” dip, punctuated with bits of fire roasted tomatoes.

She grew up on Browning’s cheese dip and knows how a tasty meal can make a person feel.

When someone tastes her dip, “I want them to feel that love that takes them home,” she said.

Kim Hudson surprised her son, Johnnie, by treating him to Saturday’s event. He’s always begging her to cook her own cheese dip, which blends taco sauce and Rotel diced tomatoes.

Johnnie disliked anything that delivered a wallop of spice. Hudson preferred professional competitors Baja Grill and The Purple Cow Restaurant.

“They just taste like something familiar,” she said.

While the championship was a new experience for some, Rachel and David Stafford are seasoned connoisseurs. They brought muffin tins to create makeshift sampler platters, lest leftovers go to waste.